John Blake fitz William, third

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. Th ...

, 1487–1488. Blake was a descendant of

Richard Caddell Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

, alias Blake (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1278–1315). The surname Blake was adopted in remark of Richard's dark complexion. His original surname, Caddell or Cadell, suggests

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

ancestry. A member of one of

The Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway () were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Brown ...

, John Blake was the first of eighteen members of his family to serve as Mayor of Galway, the last been

Edmond Blake Edmond Blake (1803–1895) was the last Mayor of the old Galway Corporation. Blake was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, and the son of a previous Mayor, Colonel John Blake (1830–1836). He served from 1836 to 1840. In compensation ...

. He was the eldest son of William Blake, a burgess of the town, and had at least two siblings, Andrew and Thomas. Blake's tenure is notable for the agreement signed between him and the then

Clanricarde Clanricarde ( ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Terr ...

, William Burke, which bound the latter to defend the rights of the church of St. Nicholas's, Galway. In return, Blake guaranteed that daily prayers would be said in the church for de Burgo, and that a

canonry Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the p ...

would be established for his son, Richard Burke. Blake married a daughter of Clanricarde, Annabel Burke, and had issue Geoffrey, Walter, Andrew, and Peter. Geoffrey Blake became the ancestor of the Blakes of Kiltolla,

Oranmore Oranmore ( or ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, east of Galway city on an inlet of Galway Bay. At the 2022 census, Oranmore had a population of 5,819. The town is in a civil parish of the same name. Etymology Oranmore is the anglicisat ...

, while Walter became

Bishop of Clonmacnoise Bishop of Clonmacnoise was the ordinary of the Roman Catholic episcopal see based at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland. The bishops of Clonmacnoise (Old Irish: ''Cluain Moccu Nóis'') appear in the records for the first time in the 9th century ...

References

* ''History of Galway'',

James Hardiman James Hardiman (February 1782 – 13 November 1855), also known as Séamus Ó hArgadáin, was a librarian at Queen's College, Galway and an important historian. Hardiman is best remembered for his '' History of the Town and County of Galway'' (1 ...

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, 1820. * ''Old Galway'',

Maureen Donovan O'Sullivan Mary Josephine Donovan O'Sullivan was professor of history at Queens College, Galway (now NUI Galway) from 1914 to 1957. Biography One of ten children, four of whom survived infancy, Donovan was born at Fair Hill Road in Galway on 24 November ...

, 1942. * Henry, William (2002). ''Role of Honour: The Mayors of Galway City 1485-2001''. Galway: Galway City Council. * Martyn, Adrian (2016). ''The Tribes of Galway: 1124-1642'' Mayors of Galway Politicians from County Galway 15th-century Irish politicians {{Ireland-mayor-stub